Well it was that time of year again when myself and Paddy share our annual birthday fishing trip

A weekends fishing trip of our choice, with that being said we truly are spoilt for choice when it comes to fishing in Ireland,so after much deliberation myself Aidan and Paddy decided we would try our hand at one of Irelands most unexplored venues, the Beara peninsula.

Day 1

We decided to hit the road early 4am so that we could make the most of our time there

After a quick stop along the way we arrived there for 8am ,know normally we would bivvy up for such occasions but this time we decided to treat ourselves and stay in a b&b so we booked the two nights at http://www.dromagowlanehouse.com where we were hosted by angling expert Paul Harris and his lovely wife Anne who treated us to a full Irish breakfast on arrival which i must say was to die for i was only short of licking the plate clean,so after a good feed, the topic soon turned to angling and it wasn’t long before Paul started citing of the marks available ,we then headed out in Pauls motor and he showed us a couple of marks and then back to the B&B to get some bait from Paul ,he also has a small tackle shop which comes in handy.

It wasn’t long before we reached our first mark a local spot known as Cod’s head and it wasn’t long before we got some baits in the water either, it was Paddy that was first to land a fish a bull huss which was shortly followed by decent a conger ,cod head threw up plenty of fish on the day with plenty of small huss,conger,being landed not to mention the countless amounts of wrasse and pollock we then headed into Castletownbere for some dinner and a pint or two.

We then decided to head back to Dromagowlane house to tie up some new rigs and some rest before our evening session but i think none of us got any rest we were that excited. With that said we jumped back in the motor and headed to our second mark of the day a spot called Pat’s point,we were plagued with loads doggies that was until the huss showed up and it was the huss that dominated the night though they were all small ,i’m sure you have all heard the phrase fish till you drop! Well it was literaly the case for some of us “AIDAN COX” so we wrapped up headed back to the digs to get some much needed shut eye .

DAY 2

We decided to try a different mark but on arrival we didn’t feel to confident, so we opted for heading back to Cod’s head,when we got there we bailed out of the motor and started to get our gear together Aidan said he was going to leave his beachcasters behind and just float fish for the wrasse and pollock and what ever else took a fancy to his bait,once we got our baits in the water it wasn’t long before our rod tips started rocking but it was just mainly small to medium huss & conger,but from the get go Aido was hammering the wrasse out of it, after a while Aido asked me if i would like to try a go at the wrasse, so with the big rods having gone quiet i said fuck it why not he looked like he was having great crack so i grabbed two cans of heineken and rock hopped on down to him.

First cast and i was in to a small pollock, when i got him close enough Aido took the line and unhooked him and tossed him back and said its good crack Joe isn’t it? then he put a small peeler crab on and said wait and see you probably get a specimen? So i cast it and sat there with Aido waiting for that cigar float to get dragged into the deep blue and that’s exactly what happened so i struck into it and sweet Jesus that carp rod of Aido’s literally doubled over from butt to tip , Aido actually thought i was snagged but i could feel it moving so i kept the pressure on this thing was taking line so i had to feather the spool then he show his head Aido was straight out with the landing net thank god because i just landed a specimen wrasse 5.2 lb i think Aido was more excited than me , I was just in shock!! We weighed him took a couple photos and sent him back . Needless to say we all got on the float set up and had plenty of wrasse with the odd pollock making a cameo! We fished untill the hunger took over so we packed up and headed into Castletownbere for some grub and a few cold ones and the back to Dromagowlane house for a bit of shut eye before we headed out for another night session.

Joe White 5.2lb ballan wrasse

Final session

1am and like Willie Nelson said we were on the road again,this time around we decided to try a ray mark {DOD}so with rods set up and a mix of mackerel & sandeel baits in the water it wasn’t long before the doggies made an appearance so after numerous doggies i decided to try some peeler grab nothing happened for the next half an hour until i got the most timid bite on the grab rod so i took the rod and struck into it and it was like trying pull a bag of coal of the bottom i eventually got it moving but my rough ground diawa supercast was doubled over slowly but surely i began to retrieve some line just as the fish was going to emerge from the water it came off the hook with a loud crash in the water DOH!!!!!! Unfortunately our final session produced plenty of doggies.

Final thoughts: we had a great time at the Beara peninsula and can’t wait to get back down there, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Paul & Anne harris for having us as your guests they pulled all the stops and made us feel really welcome thanks guys. The fishing down there is unreal and the house and service was the best we ever had. If you fancy a trip down get onto Paul and he will see you right.

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About paddykeogh20

We are three anglers who enjoy all aspects of fishing. Whether we are blanking or catching were happiest on the bank or shore. If you like your fishing join us by watching our many trips and as we interview some top anglers along the way.....